Dem: Tweet calling Singer ‘hot’ a “prank”

Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., said he wasn’t flirting with singer Cyndi Lauper earlier this week when he tweeted to her that he “couldn’t believe how hot” she was.

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The tweet Tuesday — and its deletion 21 minutes later — were all part of a joke designed to get publicity for a PBS documentary airing next week about the music scene in Memphis, the city Cohen represents in Congress, the lawmaker said Friday at a news conference.

Cohen tweeted to Lauper, “great night, couldn’t believe how hot u were. See you again next Tuesday. Try a little tenderness.”

Lauper, famous for ’80s hits like “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” ”Time after Time” and “True Colors,” recorded her most recent album, the critically acclaimed “Memphis Blues,” in Memphis, and the singer is featured in the PBS film.